In Wash., are weak teaching evaluations worth $44 million?

Thousand-dollar bills must be piled up like snow drifts around the state Capitol this year. Why else would Olympia’s Democrats — and at least a few of its Republicans — be willing to kiss off up to $44 million a year in federal funding for Washington’s schools?

What, education dollars are actually scarce? That makes the Senate’s rejection of a cash-preserving school bill especially bizarre.

The bill is modest, though the state teacher’s union has made opposition to it a political litmus test this election year. It would clarify that teacher evaluations must include student performance data as measured by statewide tests.